Life-saving garment.



E. 0. SMITH.

LIFE SAVING GARMENT.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 17, 1912.

1,056,374. Patented'Mar. 18, 1913.

' I f I g 1 9 I i I 3 I i l I i J ECSmiih 289mm 4 U" a COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD CHAS. SMITH, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

LIFE-SAVING GARMENT.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, ED'WARD CHAS. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Garments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention is directed to improvements in life saving garments and more particularly to one for saving lives at sea.

The invention has for its object to produce a garment of this type to assist the life saving crew in lowering passengers from the deck of a ship to the life boats below, the same being in the nature of a garment which will envelop the passenger, and serve as a protection during the lowering operation.

lVith these and other objects in View, this invention resides in the novel features of construction, formations, combinations and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the garment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the garment is formed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar view on line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 1.

The garment consists of a blank of canvas 1 or other suitable fabric, the same being so cut as to form a back portion 2 tothe vertical side edges of which are integrally formed the front sections 3.

Extending from the lower edge of the back portion 2 are the leg sections 4, which cooperate with the leg sections 5 formed integral with the lower edges of the front sections 3, and when the device is in place upon a person, said leg sections form an effectual closure for the legs of the person.

A reinforcing band 6 encircles the lower edges of each pair of leg sections, said band having one of its edges provided with a ring 7, the same being adapted to be engaged by a snap hook 8 carried by the opposite end of said band, thus permitting the leg sections 4 and 5 to be spread apart previous to the placing of the garment upon a passenger.

To add additional strength to the device Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 17, 1912.

Patented Mar. 18, 191 3.

Serial No. 709,951.

at the points at which most of the strain is applied when in use a reinforcing band 9 is provided, and is stitched intermediate its ends to the rear of the back portion 2, and has its ends extended so as to engage the outer surface of the front sections 3. One end of the band 9 is provided with a pair of rings 10 which are adapted to be engaged by the snap hooks 11 carried upon the 0pposite end of the band, thus permitting the same to be easily and quickly applied to the body of a person.

Extending upwardly from the upper edge of the back portion 2 is a pair of spaced tabs 11, said tabs being of sufficient length as to rise above the shoulders of the passenger. Each front section has rising from its upper edge a similar tab 12, said tabs being so arranged that they'will also extend above the shoulder of the user, and are spaced from the tabs 11 by the provision of the arm pits 13.

Extending from the upper end of the tabs 11 are ropes or cords 14, the same passing down and under the arm pits 13 and thence upwardly to the upper end of the tabs 12, said ropes having portions of their length secured under the reinforcing band 9.

To the upper ends of the ropes 14 are secured rings 15 to which are secured the hoistening lines 16 which are held in spaced relation by cross bars 17 so that the head of the passenger will have free movement.

It is obvious that the garment may be used with equal success in case of fires to allow persons to escape from the upper windows thereof by the addition of metallic block 18, the same being provided with an aperture 19 through which the rope may be passed, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

What is claimed is A garment of the class described comprising a back portion, leg sections formed integral with the lower edge of said portion, side sections secured to the side edges of the back portion, leg sections formed upon the lower edge of the front sections, reinforcing bands for the lower ends of the leg sections, tabs extending upwardly from the front sections, a pair of tabs extending upwardly from the upper edge of the back portion, the tabs of the front sections and tabs carried by the back portions being spaced apart to form arm pits, cords passing from the tabs carried by the back portions, said cords extending under the arm pits and upwardly to the tabs carried by the front sections, rings secured to the upper ends of said cords, said rings being for the purpose of securing the ends of the hoistening lines, a reinforcing band secured to the rear of the back portion and having its ends secured to the front of the front portion, said cords having portions of their length secured between the last 10 named reinforcing band, and the front secoeaeva tions and back portions, and securing devices carried by the meeting edges of the front sections and leg sections as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

EDWARD CHAS. SMITH. Witnesses MARTIN ENGBERG, CARL ARTHUR HALGREN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U. 

